Captured
by skyn0va
Summary: 17 year old Kelsey Evans was expecting a rather quiet life when she moved to the closed off town of Jasper, Nevada. What she didn't count on, however, was being chased by the local school bully Vince and having a violent bike accident which resulted in her being whisked away by a giant alien robot. (Knockout x Human!OC) Ratings may change later.
1. Chapter 1

Kelsey clicked her pen aggressively, tapping her foot restlessly against the floor, as she stared intently at the clock. It was 3:14pm. Only one minute before school finished and then she was free for two whole months.

 _One, two, three…_

The loud chiming from the bell resonated throughout the entire building and immediately students leapt to their feet and raced towards the exit. Kelsey decided to wait it out a little while the stampede of teenagers flooded out through the school entrance. After the majority of the teens were gone, she rose to her feet and swiftly made her way towards the exit. She spotted Jack Darby, Miko Nakadai and Raf Esquivel sitting together in a small group outside the school doors. Those guys were nearly always found together. Moments later a yellow muscle car pulled up onto the pavement, followed by a large green car and a blue motorcycle that was parked not that far away. Jack, Raf and Miko instantly ran towards the vehicles – Jack hopping onto the blue motorcycle, Raf climbing into the yellow Camaro and Miko leaping into the green four-wheel drive. Kelsey watched them drive off, wondering where they were heading off to. Her mind shifted back into reality as her gaze drifted over towards her own trusty push bike mounted right where she had left it. She walked over and strapped on her helmet, slinging her backpack over her shoulders. Kelsey often wished she had an actual car of her own, maybe something like that yellow Camaro that Raf had drove off in, then she could just drive herself to school, but she could never afford a luxury such as that. For now, she had to settle for the bike.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?"

She slowly turned my head around to see the local red-haired school bully, Vince.

"What do you want?" Kelsey sighed.

"Oh, nothing much," Vince smirked, lashing out his leg towards the front wheel of Kelsey's bike which caused the bike to topple over in the process. Kelsey fell onto the rough concrete, scraping her knee in the process. She winced, grasping her knee with her hands, and glared daggers at Vince.

"Oh nothing, just wondered if you'd like to come for a ride with me." He said suggestively, his eyes raking across Kelsey's body like she was a piece of fresh meat.

She rolled her eyes and quickly hopped back onto her bike, not caring about her knee that was twinging in pain. "You know that's not going to happen, Vince," She hissed at him before taking off on her bike. There was no way she was going to give in to a jerk like him.

She didn't even bother looking back, but knowing Vince she was pretty sure that he would at least attempt to follow her for a while. Guys like him didn't give up that easily. With those thoughts in mind she pedalled even harder, determined to place as much distance between herself and the greasy teenager. A loud growl of a car engine suddenly resonated in her ears, and sure enough Vince was driving alongside her in his stupid sports car.

"Are you sure you don't want to come for a ride with me babe?" he grinned, his arm resting casually on the car door.

"Can't you take no for an answer?" She snapped back at him, pedalling harder.

"I'm sorry but I can't," Vince replied with a smirk. "And, well, it doesn't look like you've got much choice either. There's no way your bike can outdo my car."

"I'd like to see you try," She hissed at him, fire fuelling her legs as she zoomed off at intense speed. She could've sworn Vince's jaw hit his car floor as he watched her take off, but she was too far ahead of him to even bother looking back at seeing his ugly face.

Despite her efforts, she knew there was only a matter of time before Vince caught up to her. He was right – there was no way she could get away from his car, no matter how fast she pedalled. Once again, she was greeted with distant sound of Vince's car engine, and at hearing this she forced her aching legs to go even faster. Sweat rolled down Kelsey's cheekbones as she struggled to push herself forward, her heart racing wildly in her chest.

And then, that's when everything went horribly wrong.

It was at that moment that Kelsey's bike tire wedged itself onto a giant crack in the road, causing her bike to break to a sudden halt and send her flying through the air like some human torpedo. Everything seemed to be in slow motion as she was flying through the air, and then she hit the harsh concrete with a bone crushing _thud._

When she opened my eyes, she felt pain crash over her like a wave. Blood was streaming down the side of her head and she struggled to move. She could still hear Vince's car rapidly approaching and that sound alone made her force herself through the pain to get away from him. Heaving with breath, she used her arms to drag herself across the road, pain shooting up her arms as she slowly crawled forward. Her eyes slowly drifted up, her head spinning, as she stared at a red sports car that was parked only a few feet away from her. She wondered how she had even missed such a gleaming red car. From the look of it, it was a European design. It sure did look pretty. Maybe someone was in that car and could possibly help her.

"H-Hey!" She desperately called out, her chest heaving. "P-Please help!"


	2. Chapter 2

Knockout stared at the human that was slowly crawling towards him across the road. The human female appeared to be leaking a vast amount of red fluid, or as the humans called it 'blood', which was essentially the human equivalent of Energon. She looked like she was in a great deal of pain and at least several of her bones were broken.

"H-Hey!" The human girl called out. "P-Please help!"

 _Why is this human asking me for help? I may be a medic but I'm no human doctor,_ he thought quietly to himself as he revved his engines.

"N-No! Wait! Please help me!" The girl continued to cry out.

 _What is it with this human femme?_ Knockout's engine roared.

Before Knockout could drive off, another human in a sports car rolled over. It was a human male with bright orange hair and he had his eyes glued on the girl. Knockout immediately recognized the boy's face, he had encountered him before in the past during a race with Bumblebee. The boy leapt out of his car and ran over towards the female.

"Wow, I guess you took a turn for the worst eh Kelsey?" the human male grinned.

"Shut up Vince!" the girl, Kelsey, snapped back at him.

"Well, this'll make things a heck of a lot easier." The human called Vince said ominously.

"I need a hospital you jerk!" Kelsey yelled.

Knockout had watched enough human films to know where this was going. For some strange reason, something was telling him to interfere with the humans.

 _Why in the name of the All Spark should I help a mere human!? What has gotten into me?!_ Knockout dismissed the thoughts of helping the human and began to drive off, but his audio receptors picked up a few things just before he sped off.

"Oh man, I can't wait until you're all mine," Vince snarled, yanking her by the arm.

Kelsey screamed out in agony as Vince pulled on her broken arm, practically dragging her across the concrete. Without thinking Knockout suddenly reversed, turned around and charged straight towards Vince.

"Hey! S-STOP!" Vince shrieked, terrified as Knockout came pelting towards him with no signs of stopping. When Vince noticed that Knockout wasn't going to stop anytime soon, he dropped Kelsey to the floor and ran to his car and sped off with a cloud of dust.

Knockout forced his tires to a grinding halt and stared at the human before him. She was groaning in pain, her blood leaking over the floor as she forced herself to stand but to no avail.

"Heh, so you did come and help me after all…" She said, coughing up some blood in the process.

Before Knockout could say anything, Kelsey slowly closed her eyes and passed out right on the spot without another word.

Knockout seized the opportunity to transform into his robot mode, double checking there weren't any other humans lurking about, and very carefully scooped Kelsey's broken body into his arms. During his entire time on Earth he had never seen a human look so bruised and broken. She needed urgent medical attention.

"Why is it that I'm helping you again?" Knockout grumbled, rather confused at his own actions to help the girl. Never before had there been a Decepticon willingly help a human being before like this. He had no idea what had gotten into himself. Maybe he was just doing this out of pity.

"There must be something wrong with my circuits," murmured Knockout, bringing her closer towards his chassis.

Logically it would be best to take her to a human hospital, but how could a giant alien robot just stroll into a human hospital and tell them that this human girl needed urgent help? Whatever he was going to do he needed to do it fast.

"Soundwave, I need a ground bridge asap," said Knockout.

A green portal opened up before Knockout and he hastily ran inside carrying Kelsey safely in his arms. He knew he was going to regret this later.


	3. Chapter 3

When Kelsey awoke, all she could feel was blood pounding in her head as she tried to make sense of where she was. Her hand brushed over her broken arm and strangely enough it felt as if it had a plaster cast covered around it. Very slowly she blinked opened her eyes, her vision was blurry as her eyes tried to adjust to their new surroundings, the only thing she could see was a fuzzy large red mass moving in towards her. After a few seconds her vision focused and she was soon greeted with the face of what appeared to be – or at least what she thought was – some giant red robot that was staring at her dead in the face with gleaming ruby red eyes.

Of course, any normal person's reaction to such a thing would most likely to be to scream. Kelsey, on the other hand, just sat there as her mouth hung wide open in shock.

"Oh, my god," she breathed, staring at the giant robot with unblinking eyes.

"Yes, I'm quite something to look at, aren't I?" the robot mused, he, or whatever it was, seemed to be quite happy at her reaction for whatever reason.

"What…?" Kelsey tried to speak, but the only audible thing that she could muster from her chapped lips was a faint, raspy whisper.

"I do have that effect on people," the robot hummed. Whoever, or whatever, this robot was, she knew one thing for certain – he had quite a high opinion about himself.

It was at that moment that Kelsey scanned the rest of the room and she realized that everything was enormous. She was situated on a large metal slab which was far too large for her. In fact, she suddenly felt incredibly small compared to everything else in the room, not to mention there was a 21-foot-tall robot standing right in front of her.

"Just what the heck are you? Where am I?" She finally spluttered out, her entire body shaking.

"Mwah? Well, I'm Cybertronian of course," the red robot grinned. "But please, call me Knockout. And you are currently on board the Nemesis."

"The Nemesis?" she echoed in confusion. "Wait, aren't you just some kind of man-made giant robot?"

The red mech called Knockout narrowed his optics at the human girl.

"I am most certainly not man made, fleshy," he spat as if being man made was the worst thing in the world. "I am from the planet Cybertron. Basically, it's a metallic planet that inhabits giant alien robots, such as myself."

"That's it, I must be dreaming," she breathed.

"I can assure you, you are not dreaming," Knockout replied with a smile.

"But this _has_ to be a dream," Kelsey said breathlessly. "I mean, there's no other logical explanation for this. There's no such thing as Cybertron or giant alien robots. That's just ridiculous!"

The red mech let out a loud sigh and rolled his optics. "For the last time, I can assure you, it's not a dream," his lips suddenly curved into a rather twisted smirk as an awful idea blossomed in is mind. "Or do you want me to prove it?"

All of a sudden one of Knockout's arms transformed into a giant, spinning saw blade and slowly lifted it towards Kelsey's trembling body as if he was going to gut her open like a fish.

"If this is all a dream, surely this won't hurt at all?" hummed Knockout.

"NO, STOP, PLEASE-!" She screamed, wanting more than anything to run away, but her legs throbbed in pain if she moved in the slightest. There was no way she could escape with her injuries.

Knockout pulled away abruptly, his spinning saw now transformed back into his normal clawed hand, and grinned at the girl.

"Oh, you should've seen the look on your face! Priceless!" he laughed loudly.

"That wasn't funny!" Kelsey yelled, her face was furious.

"Really, you should be grateful that I actually bothered to patch you up in the first place," said Knockout, gesturing to her broken arm that was wrapped in a plaster cast and her legs which were gently wrapped in cloth. "Not many Decepticons would do that." He added.

Kelsey finally looked down at her injuries and noticed that Knockout had in fact bandaged her up after her violent fall of her bike. She was rather puzzled as to why such, or at least what she had gathered from him so far, a twisted robot like Knockout had even helped her at all.

"Why did you help me? And what's a…'Decepticon?'" she asked softly.

"Well, you did actually ask me to help you, if I recall," Knockout answered.

"No I didn't," she replied. "I asked the driver of that red Aston Martin to help me. I'm pretty sure I would've remembered if a giant alien robot was there."

"Oh, you fleshies…so entertaining." He chuckled.

"What? What's so funny?" she questioned.

Knockout rolled his optics. " _I am_ the Aston Martin," he said. "You see, where I'm from, being able to transform into vehicles is very natural." As if to prove his point, there was a loud sound of gears moving, and before her eyes what once had been a giant robot was now a shiny red car.

She blinked a few times, rubbing her eyes in disbelief. "That's…that's the Aston Martin!" she exclaimed in surprise. "That was you the whole time!?"

"Bingo," said Knockout as he transformed back into his robot self.

"You haven't answered my other question," she said.

"Oh, yes," grinned Knockout, placing a servo on his hip. "Well, simply put, Decepticons are a faction associated with total enslavement for species like you. Basically, we're aliens that are essentially going to take over your planet at some point."

Kelsey's mouth opened wide in shock at hearing the words that fell out of Knockout's mouth. "You're alien in-in-invaders?" she mumbled.

"Yes," smirked Knockout. "Lord Megatron is quite fond of Earth and intends to take over it. Of course, providing the Autobots don't get in the way…"

"Autobots?" She stammered.

"Cybetronians, like us, but they are our arch enemies. We've been fighting a war with them for millions of years," Knockout explained.

Before she could utter a reply, there was a sharp voice at the door.

"Knockout, there are some Vehicon troops that need urgent medical attention. If you still value your finish, get out here right now!"

She didn't recognize the voice, but whoever it was, she hoped she wouldn't have to meet them.

"Coming Starscream, I won't be a moment." Knockout replied dully.

Without warning, Knockout scooped Kelsey into his servos and curled his sharp claws around her small frame. Her stomach nearly dropped like a stone at being picked up by something so large and so quickly and she had to force herself not to look down. If she fell from this height her injuries may never recover. Her body flared in pain at the sudden movement and she winced, grasping onto Knockout's fingers for dear life. Knockout then leaned down onto his knee and placed her underneath the medical berth where it was darkest.

"If you move or make one sound, your good arm is coming off," He said firmly. "I'll be back soon."

She gave a small, hesitant nod and then watched as Knockout walked outside the medical bay into the hallways of the ship.

"Knockout, what has been taking you so long?" the same, raspy voice echoed throughout the chamber as Knockout exited through the doors. The only thing that she could see of the owner to the voice was a pair of very large, silver stilettoes.

The door to the chamber closed before she could hear Knockout's reply to the remark. She listened as the thundering footsteps echoing down the hallway and faded off into the distance, her heart was still racing at being picked up by Knockout. She let out a long sigh and tried to shift herself into a more comfortable position in her little hiding spot.

 _Of all the things that could've happened to me, I just had to be abducted by giant aliens!_ She thought bitterly. She had no idea what Knockout had planned for her when he returned, but whatever it was, she didn't want to find out. Her mind started to flash to alien films that she had watched in the past and a shiver passed down her spine like cold ice.

 _But the question still remains…why did he help me? Why did he tend to my injuries?_ These thoughts echoed throughout her brain as she tried to make sense of whether or not Knockout had good intentions. For now, she decided that the best course of action was to rest up her strength and try and let her injuries heal. There was no way she could even think of escaping off the Nemesis given her current condition. She very slowly began to close her eyes and drifted off to sleep, hoping that this whole ordeal was all some kind of nightmare.

* * *

 **So what do you guys think so far? I hope you're all enjoying it. This is also my first attempt at writing a Transformers fic so I apologize if it isn't very good. But yeah, I had a lot of fun writing this tbh. Feedback/faves are always welcome. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

After Knockout had tended to the injured Vehicon troops he quickly made his way back into the med bay. As soon as he was inside he checked in on the human girl who was sleeping soundly underneath the berth. If he remembered correctly, this has been the same spot where Bumblebee and Arcee had infiltrated into the Nemesis to sync a cortical psychic patch with Megatron's mind. Even Starscream or Soundwave wouldn't find her here unless she made any sound or movement.

 _For a human, she is rather…cute…in a weird fleshy way,_ Knockout thought quietly to himself. _Wait, what am I saying!? Something must be wrong with my processor! Organics are repulsive!_ He felt his fans turn on to cool himself down at his obscure thoughts. _I don't even know why I rescued this organic…maybe she can be my assistant…or pet even, hah, and help me buff my finish once she's healed!_

Kelsey suddenly stirred, slowly blinking her eyes as she gradually sat up from her spot.

"Mum? Dad? Is that you?" she mumbled, her voice thick with sleep.

"Guess again," Knockout chimed.

She rubbed her eyes a few times before blinking up at the red cherry mech.

"Oh, great. I'm still in this hellhole." She muttered bitterly under her breath.

"What was that?" He questioned her.

"N-nothing," she said hastily, not wanting to anger the giant alien robot that could easily end her life whenever he pleased. "When can I go back home?" she added rather quietly.

A smile tugged the corner of his lips at hearing her question. "Sorry, you aren't going back home. There's no way I could run the risk of letting you out when you know of my kind's existence."

"W-what?!" She gasped, her eyes wide with shock. "You can't just keep me here, like some kind of…some kind of pet!"

"Why not? Organics don't seem to be good for anything else," He remarked. "Other than making some fine-looking automobiles."

"Look, I am not some kind of pet for you to play with," she said firmly, standing her ground. "And I want you to take me back home. I'm dying for a shower and some food."

"Ah, right, I had forgotten that organics have rather _special needs_ ," he grumbled. "I suppose I can drive you back home so you can eat and clean up. I can't have you emitting any kind of stink aboard the Nemesis."

"How can you even smell when you don't have a nose?" Kelsey remarked.

Knockout placed his servo over his face. "We smell in other ways, trust me, Lord Megatron would be able to smell human stink a mile away," he muttered.

"But straight after you're done you're coming back with me." He added, his ruby optics glowing.

Kelsey frowned, narrowing her eyes at Knockout. "Fine, whatever, just so long as I can finally have some food, I'm starving." She said.

Knockout grinned and grasped her firmly in his servo, Kelsey letting out a surprised squeak in the process, and transformed into his vehicle mode. Kelsey was now in the front passenger seat in Knockout's interior and her face soon turned an awful shade of green.

"Please, never do that again," she said, swallowing back the bile that was rising in her throat.

"If you spill your gross organic fluids in my interior I'll have your head!" Knockout's voice emitted loudly from inside the car.

A glowing, green portal suddenly opened up before them and without another word, Knockout sped off through the ground bridge.

* * *

Kelsey closed her eyes when Knockout passed through the ground bridge and when she opened them they appeared to be back in Jasper, Nevada. She swallowed hard and felt a tight seatbelt restrict across her chest like some kind of snake.

"Safety first," Knockout's voice vibrated throughout the car.

"You don't have to have it that tight," she muttered, shifting into a more comfortable position in her seat. As Knockout continued to drive across the empty road, Kelsey thought of several ideas of how she could plan her escape. Her first idea was to call the police, but, who would believe a teenage girl that exclaimed that she had been captured by some alien robot that could transform into a car? Even if the police believed her in the slightest, Knockout could easily avoid being found out by simply remaining in his alt mode and make her look like a fool. She thought about going to her parents, but then that could run the risk of them being captured by Knockout as well and that was the last thing she wanted. No matter how she looked at it, there was no escaping the Decepticon. Her simple life on Earth seemed to be over.

"So, tell me, fleshy, where exactly is your place of residing?" Knockout suddenly said, bringing Kelsey out of her thoughts.

"Oh, just take a left turn here and then right when you come to the roundabout." She replied.

It wasn't long before they reached Kelsey's house. Knockout pulled over into the driveway and opened his passenger door so that she could hop out.

"If I find out you've told any of your organic family members about my existence, then consider them science experiments for the Decepticon cause." Knockout said firmly.

"Understood," she answered quietly before making her way inside her house. Neither of her parents appeared to be home as there were no cars pulled up on the driveway besides Knockout. She swiftly opened the front door with the house key that she kept in her jean pocket. Racing inside, she quickly made her way into her bedroom, snagging some fresh clothes along the way, and ran into the bathroom. Stripping off her old clothes and placing her broken arm in a plastic bag, she stepped into the shower and felt the smooth sensation of warm water running down her back as she cleaned herself. Granted, washing one's hair with only one arm wasn't exactly that easy but somehow Kelsey managed. She made sure to thoroughly wash her hair as best she could as she wasn't sure when she would be given the opportunity to shower next, so she decided to make the most of it while she was there. After she had a shower, she changed into some clean clothes and quickly began to pack her bag. If she was going to be staying on an alien spaceship she needed to have at some more spare clothes, along with other necessities. She wasn't even sure if she would be properly fed aboard the Nemesis, so she took some food and bottled water as well. Once she had packed everything, she stopped by the kitchen top counter and hastily wrote a note for her parents explaining her absence. She told them that she was going away on a trip overseas and wouldn't be back for some time. The last thing she wanted was for her parents to worry about her. Before she left she quickly ate some food, eating an apple and some other fruit as fast as she could. She hated to think what Knockout would do to her if she kept him waiting for too long. Swallowing back a large lump that was forming in her throat, she hastily made her way back to where Knockout was waiting in the driveway and hopped inside with her backpack.

"About time," Knockout rumbled. "I thought I was going to rust with you taking so long."

Kelsey felt her seatbelt buckle itself as she turned her face away, staring wistfully out the car window as Knockout reversed out of the driveway. This was probably going to be the last time she saw her home for a very long time.

For a long while the drive was spent in complete silence. Kelsey wasn't exactly in the mood for talking, especially since she was basically being kept hostage by Knockout for no other reason than being his 'pet' and she had no idea if she would ever be able to see her family or friends again.

"Oh, cheer up will you," Knockout suddenly said, nearly making Kelsey jump out of her skin at his voice. "There's nothing more annoying than a gloomy organic."

"Then send me back home, if you're so sick of me," Kelsey snapped.

"Uh-uh-uh," Knockout chimed. "I can't do that I'm afraid. You know why."

Kelsey crossed her arms over her chest, her jaw was clenched as her face was pulled into a tight-lipped smile.

 _Honestly, if he wasn't some giant alien robot that could kill me in two seconds, I would punch him straight in the mouth,_ she thought.

Suddenly there was a dinging sound emitting from Knockout's radar.

"Would you look at that. There's an Energon spike up ahead." Knockout's engines roared as he accelerated.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"Nowhere special," replied Knockout. "There's an Energon surge up ahead which wouldn't hurt to investigate."

After several more minutes of driving, Knockout pulled over to what appeared to be an abandoned mine. With little warning at all, he transformed back into his robot form with Kelsey still inside him. Somehow, this resulted in her being inside his chassis in a secret compartment in Knockout's chest.

"H-Hey! Let me out of here!" Kelsey yelled, pounding with her good fist that wasn't covered in plaster inside Knockout's subspace.

"Hmm…I believe it would be best if you remained in there, little she-human," Knockout smirked. "It would save me the trouble of having to keep an optic on you."

"I don't want to be trapped inside your chest!" she cried.

"Too bad, you aren't going anywhere," he chuckled. "I suggest you make yourself comfortable."

Heaving out a rather frustrated sigh, Kelsey brought her knees closer to her chest and tried to make herself as comfortable as possible inside Knockout's chassis. There wasn't exactly a lot she could do about the situation, especially with her broken arm and weak legs that were still recovering from her fall off her bike. She decided it would be best for her to remain as quiet as possible for the time being.


	5. Chapter 5

Knockout's optics scanned the inside of the mine, his sensors peeled for any traces of Energon as he made his way inside. The mine appeared to be of that of human origin, as there were human tools and even mining carts littered about the place among all of the rock and gravel.

 _Hmm, surely my sensors couldn't have been playing up,_ he thought to himself, venturing deeper into the human mine. He could feel Kelsey shift slightly about inside his chassis and he suppressed a shiver. Despite the fact that he had human passengers inside his alt mode in the past, it still didn't change the fact that having a fleshy organic inside of him made him squirm a bit.

"Will you keep still in there? I can't work with you wriggling about," grumbled Knockout, kicking up a boulder chunk as he investigated the deserted area.

"Then release me and then maybe you won't feel me tickling your insides," Kelsey shot back.

"I would watch your tone if I were you, human," growled Knockout. "If you keep that up I might turn you into a lab experiment when we get back."

From that moment on Kelsey was silent, except for the occasional cough of sneeze which nearly sent Knockout up the roof. He didn't want some human spreading their organic germs inside of his interior, even though human germs wouldn't even affect him in the slightest. After several more minutes of Knockout scavenging the area, he finally found what he came for.

"Energon!" Knockout exclaimed happily, pulling up a chunk of the glowing crystal from the ground. "Lord Megatron will be most pleased." He added with a grin.

"Great, you've found it," said Kelsey. "Now can I finally get out of here? I really need to stretch my legs."

Knockout rolled his optics. _Maybe it wouldn't hurt if I let her walk around for a little while…_

"Okay, fine, hold on one second," said Knockout, placing the chunk of Energon on the ground.

"And just who, may I ask, are you talking to Knockout?" A hoarse, but very familiar voice echoed throughout the mine.

"S-Starscream!" Knockout cried. "Wh…what are you doing here?"

"Surprised to see me, are you Knockout?" rasped Starscream, strolling over towards where the cherry mech stood. "My scanners simply picked up a trace of Energon so I decided to investigate. Why are you here?"

"Same reason," Knockout quickly replied. He could feel Kelsey tense up inside his subspace.

Starscream narrowed his blood red optics at the Decepticon medic. "Really?" the silver seeker said. "Well, if you don't mind me asking for the second time, just who were you talking to earlier? I don't see any Vehicon drones with you."

Knockout placed a servo on the back of his neck rather awkwardly. "I wasn't talking to anyone, Starscream," he replied feverishly.

"Then why did I hear someone's voice that didn't belong to your own voice box?" snapped Starscream. "It sounded femme."

"O-oh, well, you see…I was talking to myself," murmured Knockout.

Starscream raised a metallic eyebrow at Knockout's statement. "I didn't realize your voice box was capable of sounding like a femme." He grunted.

"You'd be surprised, Starscream." Knockout answered.

"Alright then," said Starscream, his optics still narrowed. "I suppose we should bring this Energon back to Lord Megatron and inform Soundwave of our whereabouts so that they can send drones to fetch the rest of the Energon."

Starscream idly scooped up a chunk of Energon in his talons, swirling it about like it was a piece of glowing blue candy. "And, for the record, I was the one that located this Energon jackpot." Starscream grinned.

Knockout heaved out a sigh and rolled his optics, placing a servo on his hip. "Whatever, Screamer, it's not like finding an Energon deposit will automatically make you Lord Megatron's favourite. I'm pretty sure Soundwave has that position taken."

Starscream's face plates scrunched up in fury at Knockout's remark, his optics shooting daggers at the Decepticon medic.

"If you don't watch your mouth, Knockout, you can say goodbye to your pretty finish!" Starscream snarled viciously, flexing his metal talons like a bird about to strike.

Knockout didn't seem to be fazed at all by Starscream's threat as he waved his servo dismissively and picked up another chunk of Energon that was lying on the ground.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going to have a further look inside this human mine." Knockout said, casually strolling deeper into the mine, using his headlights to light up the ominous cave.

Starscream, at seeing Knockout walking away, fluttered his wings in frustration. "Hey, get back here! You can't just walk away from a superior officer!" Starscream scurried after Knockout, kicking up dust and debris with his heels as he ran after the cherry red mech.

 _Scrap! Why did he have to follow me?_ Knockout thought to himself, gritting his teeth in frustration, _I can't let Screamer know about Kelsey…if she makes one sound then it's all over._

As if on cue, Kelsey moved about inside Knockout's chassis which caused a large shiver to pass down his spine. Knockout, of course, shuddered quite noticeably in response.

"Knockout…is everything alright?" Starscream queried, his optics scanning over the red mech's form.

"Y-yes, of course," mumbled Knockout, trying to hide his discomfort. "I just had a sudden chill is all. Must be a draft in here."

Starscream scrutinized Knockout, he wasn't quite convinced that a draft had been the cause of his sudden shiver. Luckily for Knockout, the silver seeker decided not to further question the medic about the matter.

 _Scrap, that was too close,_ Knockout thought nervously, his processor beginning to heat up. He hated to think what would happen if Starscream discovered Kelsey. For one, he knew that Starscream would never keep a secret so that was out of the question. He'd probably bring her straight to Megatron to be slaughtered at the hands of their unforgiving leader.

 _Wait…why do I care what happens to a single organic life? I mean, yes, I did help the human…but only so that she could be my personal assistant._

"As second in command, I should be taking the lead," huffed Starscream, shoving past Knockout like he was a piece of scrap metal. At being jostled so suddenly in such a small space from Starscream's shove, Kelsey let out a squeak as her broken arm bumped up against Knockout's interior. Knockout fake coughed to help cover up her squeak, but it wasn't quite enough. Starscream's audio receptors did not fail to pick up Kelsey's outburst. He turned on his heels to face Knockout, both of his servos were placed on his slender hips as he stared the red mech down.

"And that, I'm guessing, was you?" sneered Starscream.

"Of course, Starscream," replied Knockout. "There's no one else here besides you and I. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to find some more Energon for our master."

Starscream grumbled under his breath and followed Knockout deeper into the mine.

"You know, Knockout, it surprises me that you would even consider venturing into a place like this," chittered Starscream. "What if some dirt got on your precious finish?"

"I'm surprised _you_ even came here," Knockout growled. "I mean, considering the last time you were in a place like this Megatron nearly vaporized you, not to mention the Autobots outwitted you."

A snarl of fury ripped through Starscream's gravelly throat. "I told you to never speak of that!"

Before Knockout could reply, there was the sound of a large explosion that appeared to be coming from deeper in the mine. Both Knockout and Starscream froze at hearing the sudden explosion and turned to look at each other.

"You don't think…?" Starscream started.

"Autobots," said Knockout. "We need to get out of here."

Starscream folded his arms over his chassis. "Well, if it's just Bumblebee and Arcee I'm sure we can take them."

"Supposing it's Optimus Prime and his entire team?" Knockout countered.

"Good point," Starscream admitted.

The two Decepticons made a dash for the exit, Starscream transforming into his jet mode and flying off through the mine tunnel, whilst also spraying Knockout with dust and gravel as he took off. Knockout let out a growl and brushed the dirt off his finish, keeping in mind to give himself a good buffing when he was back on board the Nemesis. He quickly transformed into his alt mode and shot off down the tunnel. Kelsey, of course, was safely inside Knockout's passenger seat and had nearly passed out from his sudden transformation.

"I really hate it when you do that," she croaked.

"Sorry about that," Knockout's voice vibrated like a giant bass speaker throughout the car.

"That's okay…hold up, you actually apologized?" she spluttered, not quite believing her ears. "That's not like you."

"Quiet, human!" Knockout hissed. He could feel his spark beginning to flutter about inside his chassis for some strange reason. _Why did I apologize? It's not like I actually care about her, she is just a human after all,_ he thought to himself, revving his engines as he sped through the mine.

 _I can't think about that now anyway, there's Autobots up my tailpipes,_ he thought, his tires churning up pebbles and dirt as he raced through the mine.

"Uh…there's somebody following us," gulped Kelsey, turning over shoulder to glance back at whatever was chasing them. Suddenly, blue lasers were firing at Knockout's flank from all sides, and Kelsey ducked down in her seat in fright.

"Are t-those-?" she started.

"Autobots!" Knockout spat venomously. "I think it would be best if you tried to remain unseen."

Kelsey shrunk back further into her seat, shifting so that she was at least somewhat hidden from plain sight.

A blue motorcycle suddenly pulled up beside Knockout's flank, shooting lasers at his tires. Knockout hissed in anger and began to shoot up Arcee's tires with his own red lasers that deployed just behind his car doors. Arcee glided to the side, dodging Knockout's lasers, before leaping up into the air mid transformation. There was a loud _clang_ as the blue femme landed on top of Knockout's roof and Kelsey let out startled gasp.

"Watch the finish!" Knockout hissed, swerving from side to side to try and throw the femme Autobot off.

"Give it up 'Con, you're outnumbered," snarled Arcee, pounding her fist onto Knockout's roof repeatedly. As if to prove her point, Bumblebee and Bulkhead's alt forms soon drifted into view closely followed by a big rig.

"Scrap!" Knockout growled, quickly doing a U-turn whilst also managing to throw Arcee off in the process. Arcee hastily transformed back into a motorcycle as she was thrown into the dirt and followed Knockout into the mine. Bumblebee and Bulkhead carried on through to the exit to pursue Starscream, while Optimus followed Arcee and Knockout.

"Soundwave, I need a ground bridge – NOW!" Knockout cried.

Sure enough, a green portal emerged before them and Knockout instantly sped through it without looking back. Arcee tried to follow them but the ground bridge portal closed before she could make her way through.

"Scrap!" Arcee growled, transforming back into her robot form, her face formed into a scowl. "I was so close."

Optimus transformed back into his robot form and stood beside the blue femme.

"You did what you could, Arcee," said Optimus soothingly. "Knockout is quite the speedster."

Arcee returned Optimus' warm gaze with a smile before her face saddened.

"Optimus…when Knockout threw me off…I thought I saw…" Arcee said softly.

"What did you see?" asked Optimus.

"I could've sworn that I saw a human in Knockout's passenger seat," she said.

Optimus's optics widened at hearing her response. "Are you certain it was a human you saw?" he questioned her.

Arcee gave a small nod. "Positive, sir. I'm pretty sure it was a teenage girl."

Optimus's gaze trailed off, his face reflected that of great concern and worry. "We cannot let an innocent human life be endangered by the likes of the Decepticons," said Optimus. "We need to rescue that human no matter the cost."

"Yes," Arcee agreed. "But what bothers me the most is why Knockout would even have a human in the first place. What would the Cons possibly want with a human?"

"It bothers me greatly as well, Arcee," Optimus replied. "We can only hope that the human hasn't suffered while being held under Decepticon hands."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Can I just say, thank you all so much for taking the time to read my little fanfic. I am truly blown away by how many people are actually enjoying this story so far, so thank you all! I appreciate every single comment/fave that you guys leave behind and it really makes me happy. I hope you enjoy the new chapter! :)**

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"That was far too close!" Knockout panted, holding Kelsey steadily in his clawed servo as he placed her onto the medical berth. Both of them had made it safely back on board the Nemesis with no major injuries, apart from Knockout's finish being scuffed by Arcee's fist and sprayed with gravel by Starscream.

"Would you look at what that two-wheeler did to my finish!" Knockout growled, gesturing to Kelsey his scratched paintjob. "I'll have to buff this out."

Kelsey watched as the red mech reached behind a few medical cabinets and pulled out a large rotary buffer held firmly in his servo. The buffer began to spin and Knockout wasted no time in buffing out the scratch marks. After a little while, she noticed that Knockout was beginning to have difficulty in buffing a rather hard to reach spot. Said spot happened to be on his back, far away from Knockout's reach.

"Ugh! Detailing was so much easier when Breakdown was here!" The red mech grumbled, desperately trying to reach his back.

Kelsey watched Knockout try to reach his back with the buffer in silence, her thoughts swirling around in her head like a whirlpool. Her mind flickered back to a few days ago, when Knockout had captured her from her encounter with Vince. She gritted her teeth at the mere thought of the red-haired teenager, wanting nothing more than to deliver a punch to his acne clad face if she ever ran into him again. In fact, if it hadn't been for Knockout that day, who knows what Vince would've done to her vulnerable and weakened state. A shiver snaked down her spine at the thought. If anything, she started to feel some sort of gratitude to the cherry mech, even if he had in fact captured her, he had saved her from whatever fate Vince had in stored for her that day.

Feeling this newfound gratitude to the robot, Kelsey suddenly spoke up much to Knockout's surprise. "Hey, if you need some help, I can buff that out for you."

The Decepticon medic froze in his tracks and his optics fixated on her small form. He blinked a couple of times and slowly lowered his arm that was holding the buffer.

"You…actually want to help?" he said softly, not quite believing his audio receptors. "But your limb is broken. It would be unwise for you-"

"Hey, I do have one good arm," she retorted, presenting her arm that wasn't covered in plaster. "I don't mind helping you buff out those scratch marks."

Knockout eyed her suspiciously, obviously, he was rather sceptical that she genuinely wanted to help him buff his finish. "Well, I was going to wait until your arm was healed and then you could buff my finish…but if you insist little she-human…"

He wasted no time in swiping her up in his servo, Kelsey feeling her stomach lurch at the sudden movement, and depositing her carefully behind his neck so that she could reach his back.

"Make sure you get out every little dent," Knockout instructed. "I don't want a single scratch visible."

"Got it," she said, rolling her eyes.

Knockout presented her with his buffer, which, of course, was meant for Cybertronian hands, not human. It was far too large and heavy for Kelsey to hold.

"Uh…do you have a smaller one by any chance?" she said quietly.

"Ah, right," said Knockout, putting his normal rotary buffer away. "I keep forgetting just how small you humans really are…"

After a few seconds of Knockout rummaging about in his detailing cabinet, he managed to find a perfect human-sized buffer that Kelsey would be able to hold up.

"Good thing I kept this one," Knockout handed her the small rotary buffer.

"Thanks," she replied, and began to buff out the dings that the blue Autobot Arcee had left behind.

The two of them were silent for a while as Kelsey buffed away at Knockout's finish, the only sound being the small hum of the buffer as it worked its way through Knockout's scratches.

"So…just who exactly is this 'Starscream' guy?" Kelsey suddenly spoke up, breaking the silence.

"Oh, don't get me started on Starscream," said Knockout. "He's arrogant, selfish, annoying…and most of all, _he's rude_."

"Sounds like a great guy," Kelsey said sarcastically.

"He's second in command but he acts like he runs the damn place," grumbled Knockout. "I'm surprised Lord Megatron hasn't sent him to the scrapheap yet. But, I will admit, he does have a rather radiant finish when he bothers to look after it. It's a shame his personality isn't as nice."

"I'm guessing if I were to run into Starscream, it would be extremely bad?" she asked.

" _Incredibly bad._ He'd squash you without a second thought. Or, even worse, he'd take you to Lord Megatron." Knockout replied.

"Yeah, you keep going on about this 'Lord Megatron,' guy," she said. "What is so great about him? Why is he your leader?"

All of a sudden Knockout began to laugh, which nearly caused Kelsey to lose her footing and fall of the red medic's back at the sudden movement. She quickly scrambled about on his back, grabbing hold of the back of his shiny red helm for support with her good arm whilst also managing to not drop the tiny buffer that was in her hand.

"You do make me laugh sometimes, organic," he chuckled. "I can't believe you would ask such a thing…although, I suppose you wouldn't really know considering you don't have any knowledge of Cybertronian history…"

"Enlighten me, then," she said.

Knockout began to explain to Kelsey everything about Cybertron and its history, the great war between the Autobots and the Decepticons and how Cybertron turned into a lifeless husk of a planet because of it. But what shocked her the most, however, was when Knockout told her that her own home planet happened to be a giant Cybetronian god known as Unicron, the Chaos Bringer. She continued to listen as Knockout went into further detail about the Decepticon leader, Megatron, and how he used to be a gladiator in the pits of Kaon before rising to the Decepticon cause. She knew one thing for certain know – from what Knockout had told her, Megatron was certainly one robot she would rather not meet in person if she could help it. What felt like hours soon passed, and even after Kelsey had finished buffing Knockout's paintjob he still continued to tell her more about Cybertron. He told her all about the acid wastes, the Sea of Rust, and the radiant aluminium race tracks that he strongly enjoyed racing across before the war. She quickly found herself engrossed as Knockout went on and told her more about Cybetron's rich history, and she even sat down in the space between Knockout's head and his shoulder.

They were eventually interrupted, however, by no one other than Starscream himself.

"Knockout, I need you to tend to me." Starscream's raspy voice croaked.

Both Kelsey and Knockout looked at each other in alarm at hearing Starscream's voice.

Knockout urgently grasped Kelsey in his servo and placed her underneath the medical berth where she would be out of sight. It was just in time, too, for as soon as Knockout had hidden Kelsey the silver seeker made his entrance into the med bay.

"Wow…what happened to you?" Knockout said.

"It doesn't matter how it happened!" Starscream snapped. "I just want you to tend to my wounds and then forget about all of this."

Kelsey watched as two large stilettoes made their way towards her and she stifled a gasp. Thankfully, Starscream was only climbing onto the giant metal slab where Knockout preformed most of his operations on his patients which just so happened to be near her hiding spot.

"Let me guess…it was Bulkhead and Bumblebee that did this?" said Knockout.

"Alright, yes, if you must know…it was those two wretched Autobots," hissed Starscream. "But if you tell anyone about this-"

"Your secret is safe with me, Screamer," replied Knockout. "Hmm, you're quite low on Energon too. Just wait here while I go fetch some for you."

"I'm fine, Knockout, I don't need any Energon!" yelled Starscream.

"Who's the doctor here?" said Knockout.

Starscream muttered something under his breath that Kelsey didn't quite catch as Knockout walked out through the med bay doors. As she watched Knockout's pedes vanish behind metal doors, she silently shouted in her head for him to come back.

 _Please don't leave me alone with Starscream! What if he finds me here!?_

She swallowed hard, steadying her breathing as she tried to calm herself. If she remained as quiet as possible Starscream wouldn't even notice she was here. All she had to do was stay in her spot and make no noise at all.

 _I'll be fine, nothing to worry about,_ she quietly told herself, _Knockout will be back soon and then everything will be okay._

Kelsey held her breath, not daring to make any noise or movement that might attract Starscream's attention. Her heart was hammering in her chest at the thought of being tossed about by another giant robot who most likely won't hesitate to kill her without a second thought. A large lump was beginning to form in her throat as she anxiously watched the giant metal slab that Starscream was laying on. She could make out his heeled pedes from where she was sitting in her hiding spot and she wondered what kind of face those heels belonged too.

"Ugh, if Lord Megatron finds out that I was scrapped by the Autobots I won't hear the end of it," Starscream's coarse voice rang out through the chamber. "I hope Knockout will keep his word…otherwise his finish will be in trouble if he doesn't."

 _What a strange robot,_ Kelsey thought to herself. _Now he's talking to himself._

All of a sudden Kelsey felt a sneeze coming on. She could feel the tingly feeling in her nose and she knew it would be a matter of seconds before she sneezed.

 _No, no, no! Not now!_ She yelled inside her head and quickly pinched her nose to stop herself from sneezing and blowing her cover. After thirty seconds or so, she stopped pinching her nose and let out a sigh of relief.

 _That was far too close._

Just when she thought that she wasn't going to sneeze anymore, Kelsey suddenly sneezed. She felt dread wash over her like a wave as she saw Starscream's pedes move in response to her sneeze.

"Who's there?" Starscream said, hopping off the medical berth.

Kelsey smacked a hand over her mouth as she watched Starscream's pedes walk about Knockout's med bay, every hair on the back of her neck was standing up.

 _Knockout, please hurry up!_ She screamed silently inside her head.

" _Answer me_!" Starscream roared, stamping one of his heels on the hard metal floor causing vibrations to rattle through the ground.

Kelsey could feel her pulse beating in her ears as the colour soon drained from her face, leaving her as white as a sheet. She literally didn't have anywhere to go – the doors were closed and her legs were still recovering from her injuries. She could walk, but she couldn't run and she knew that there was no possible way that she would be able to outwalk a robot that was so much larger than her.

"Has Knockout been keeping a little pet?" Starscream growled, slowly making his way towards where Kelsey was hiding. "Come on out, vermin, I promise not to hurt you…much."

Kelsey had to force herself not to scream as she saw a giant, clawed hand slowly make its way towards her trembling frame. If she didn't act now, Starscream was going to snatch her up in a heartbeat. Using all of the strength that she had, Kelsey desperately crawled out of Starscream's reach as his servo missed her by a fraction. She immediately scrambled to the wall and pressed herself up against it, far out of Starscream's claws.

"Ugh! Get back here! I know you're there!" Starscream hissed in frustration.

"Starscream, what in the world are you doing?" Knockout's voice suddenly rang out.

Starscream quickly jumped to his pedes at hearing Knockout's voice.

"N-nothing, Knockout!" Starscream blurted.

Knockout eyed Starscream suspiciously. "Somehow I find that hard to believe."

"It's the truth!"

"Whatever, Starscream. Now you need to rest up – you shouldn't be crawling around with injuries like that."

Kelsey watched as Starscream laid back down on Knockout's operating table, her heart was still beating restlessly from the close encounter with Starscream. That had been far too close to her liking.

"Knockout…are you…by any chance keeping something from Lord Megatron and the rest of us?" Starscream suddenly said.

"No, why do you ask Starscream?" Knockout asked. Kelsey could detect worry in the tone of his voice.

"Oh, no reason…" murmured Starscream.

After that the two robots were silent as Knockout tended to Starscream's injuries. Starscream yelped in pain a few times, with Knockout telling him to 'suck it up' in response. Minutes passed and Kelsey quickly lost track of time. She rummaged through her backpack and ate a few snacks to help pass the time and ease her hunger. Soon enough, however, Knockout finished fixing up Starscream.

"There you are Starscream, all done." Knockout said.

"About time too," grumbled Starscream, jumping off the operating table. "And remember to not mention this to anyone."

"Yes, yes, I won't tell anyone," replied Knockout. "Have you told our master about the Energon-?"

"Of course," said Starscream, making his way towards the exit. "Now, if you don't mind dear doctor, I am going to be on my way."

"Be careful Starscream, don't do anything too strenuous. Your body is still recovering from your injuries." Knockout said.

Starscream simply rolled his optics and exited through the doors. Kelsey heaved out a sigh of relief as soon as Starscream had left. She never wanted to be in that situation ever again.

"Oh, little human," chimed Knockout. "You can come out now."

A frown spread across her features at being called 'little human' – since she had been Knockout's 'prisoner' he had never even referred to her real name, not even once.

 _Wait…does he even know my real name?_ Kelsey's brain backtracked as she tried to remember if she had even told Knockout her real name.

 _It would be a bit strange for me to tell him my name now,_ she thought, _it's a bit late for introductions._

"Are you going to come out or will I have to pull you out myself?" Knockout's voice rang out.

Kelsey sighed, pushing herself up onto her, still rather weak, legs and hobbled out into the med bay. Knockout was standing in the centre of the room, his servos placed on his hips.

"Now, where were we?" The red mech hummed. "Oh yes, I believe I was telling you about Cybertron."

As much as Kelsey had enjoyed Knockout telling her stories of Cybertron, she needed to tell him that Starscream knew about her.

"Knockout, I need to tell you something really important." Kelsey said.

Knockout raised an eyebrow at her. "Really? Spit it out then."

"Starscream knows I'm here," she said, swallowing hard. "And he highly suspects you."

" _He knows what_?!" Knockout yelled, his red optics wide with panic. " _You let him see you_? Why didn't you remain still?!"

"He didn't exactly see me!" Kelsey shot back, trying to defend herself. "I kind of sneezed and he…well…he heard me sneeze and tried to grab me."

Knockout looked as if he had seen a ghost. Then, after the shock had settled, his face soon turned from stunned to pure fury. He soon made an advancement towards her, his pedes sending tremors through the ground as he walked over towards where Kelsey stood. She flinched back in terror, putting her one good arm over her face as Knockout snatched her up from the ground.

"Great, so now Screamer knows of your existence!" Knockout roared. "It was bad enough that he was already suspicious, now he knows for certain that I'm keeping a human! First thing he'll do is tell Lord Megatron…oh scrap…I hate to think what Big M will do to me once he finds out that I've secretly been keeping a human on board the Nemesis…"

"But Starscream didn't actually see me," Kelsey said softly, her heart hammering against her chest.

"Are you certain that he didn't see you?" Knockout pressed, his voice lowered considerably.

Kelsey gave a small, nervous nod. "Yes."

"I suppose that isn't _too_ bad," Knockout grumbled. "But that still doesn't change the fact that Starscream is highly suspicious of me…there's no doubt that he'll tear the med bay apart looking for you."

"Then what are we supposed to do?" she gulped.

"Obviously, it isn't safe for you to be in the med bay anymore," replied Knockout. "You'll have to stay in my private berth room from now on."

"Will I get a proper bed, then?" she asked him. "I don't want to sleep on a hard metal floor anymore."

Knockout narrowed his ruby optics at her. "I have no idea what a 'bed' is, but I suppose you'll have your own berth to recharge on…or sleep…whatever it is you fleshies do when you aren't moving about."

 _I guess that's better than nothing,_ she thought silently.

"It's best if I take you to my berth room now, in case Starscream decides to rock back over here and complain about something." Knockout said.

Kelsey knew what was coming next as Knockout suddenly opened his subspace inside his chest and quickly dropped her inside. She quickly glanced up, the last thing she saw was Knockout's face as he stared down at her before his subspace closed, trapping her inside. Despite the fact that she had been inside Knockout's subspace before, it did feel rather strange to be inside of a giant alien robot. She could feel each thundering footstep Knockout took as he made his way outside into the Nemesis halls, sending vibrations through her small body. Thankfully, it wasn't completely dark inside Knockout's subspace – there were red bio-lights which lit up the enclosed area, allowing Kelsey to look around his interior. It was rather clean too, not a speck of dirt or grime could be found inside the red medic's subspace. It also emitted a new car type of smell which Kelsey didn't really mind. In fact, it was rather nice. She had also expected it to be rather cold, which, given the fact that Knockout was a robot she had thought that his metal plating would be cold to the touch, but she was rather surprised when she found that the inside of his chassis was pleasantly warm. She could even feel and hear the thrum of what she guessed was his spark above her head, which was oddly comforting to her. Funnily enough, she had somehow managed to hold onto the small rotary buffer that Knockout had given to her when she had been buffing his paintjob earlier. She had no idea why she had held onto it so tightly, perhaps out of fear in case she lost the buffer which would result in Knockout becoming angry with her – something she wanted to avoid greatly. Letting out a soft sigh, she placed the buffer in her backpack to avoid losing it. The last thing she wanted was a cross, giant alien robot that could potentially squish her like she was some kind of insect. Kelsey stifled a yawn as she zipped up her backpack, her eyes suddenly feeling incredibly heavy as her brain began to slow down. It had been a very long day, and an eventful one at that. All she wanted now was a chance to rest her eyelids before Knockout tossed her around like a doll again. She slumped up against Knockout's interior, feeling him jostle in response to her movement, and she began to slowly close her eyes as sleep beckoned her to drift off into slumber.


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hello everyone! First of all, I want to thank the Guest that left the note that subspaces aren't really like a trunk or hallow space, so I'll refrain from calling Knockout's chest compartment a subspace from now on haha. My Transformers knowledge is still growing as I'm still fairly new-ish to the fandom so if I make anymore mistakes like that please feel free to point them out. But anyways, thank you all for leaving so many nice comments/faves etc., it truly makes my day whenever I go and check my messages on this story. I appreciate every single one of you guys reading this, so thank you all so much! I also want to apologize that this chapter is so short compared to the last one, but I'm planning for the next chapter to be longer than this one if it all goes well. Anyways, I won't keep you guys any longer, please enjoy this chapter! :)**

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More than anything, Knockout wanted Kelsey out of his chest cavity as soon as possible. He couldn't even walk down the Nemesis hallways without squirming as Kelsey pressed her fleshy skin against his insides. She felt so soft and squishy against his interior and he had to force himself not to shudder as several Vehicon drones walked past him. A couple of them gave him a few odd looks, but luckily none of them pressed him for any questions. Shaking his head lightly Knockout forced himself to walk down the Nemesis hallways, trying his hardest not to shiver at Kelsey's touch.

 _It's okay, I'm nearly there,_ Knockout thought to himself, turning around a corner which lead to his private berth room. _Almost there…_

"Greetings, doctor."

Knockout nearly leaked transmission fluid as his optics fell on the giant mech that stood before him, blocking him from his berth room.

"L-Lord Megatron!" spluttered Knockout frantically.

The Decepticon leader eyed him suspiciously, his eyes were glowing a vibrant purple from the Dark Energon that coursed through his veins.

"Knockout, Starscream has been telling me that you haven't been…feeling like yourself lately."

 _Scrap! Curse that high heeled seeker!_ Knockout thought bitterly, biting his lip in frustration. Now Megatron himself was skeptical of him.

"I'm not sure what you mean, my liege," answered Knockout in a rather calm manner.

"Are you sure you aren't feeling…comfortable?" growled Megatron, his violet eyes pulsating.

"Me? Of course, never better! Oh, don't listen to Starscream my lord, you know what he's like." Knockout laughed nervously.

Megatron narrowed his optics at the cherry mech. "Are you certain about that, dear doctor?"

Knockout nodded. "Of course, my liege."

Megatron loomed over Knockout's frame, his sharp metallic teeth glinting in the artificial lighting as he leaned in closer to him. Knockout edged back slightly as the larger mech stared him down, almost as if he was analyzing his body language.

"You look tense," said Megatron. "Are you absolutely sure that nothing is wrong?"

"No, nothing wrong with me my lord," answered Knockout. "I think Starscream might have a few screws loose, though."

A small, twisted grin spread across Megatron's facial features at hearing Knockout's comment on Starscream.

"Very well, doctor." Megatron said before turning away, striding down the Nemesis hallways.

Knockout wasted no time in entering his private berth room. He practically leaped inside the room and let out a huge sigh of relief as soon as he was inside. Once the doors had been sealed shut, he gracefully sat down on his berth, running a clawed servo over his helm.

"They're going to find out that I have a human sooner or later," muttered Knockout. "I'm not sure how much longer I can keep this up."

He opened up his chest cavity, relived to get the tiny human out that was nestled inside. Knockout was rather surprised, however, when he saw that his human passenger had fallen asleep inside his chest cavity. Kelsey was curled up inside his chassis, her legs were tucked in towards her chest, and she was sleeping peacefully as if she was blissfully unaware of what was going on around her. Knockout wasn't entirely sure how to react at first seeing as he had never had a human fall asleep inside him before.

 _That would explain why she stopped wriggling after a while,_ he thought silently to himself, staring at the sleeping human with interest.

 _I suppose it's time to wake her up,_ he reached in a clawed servo inside his compartment, his servo now hovering above Kelsey's sleeping frame.

 _What am I waiting for? Just grab her!_

But for some strange reason Knockout didn't jostle Kelsey from her sleep. Instead his servo lightly brushed over her hair, her blonde-brown locks spilling over the floor of his chest cavity like honey. He had no idea why but he couldn't bring himself to grab Kelsey. Maybe it was because she looked so peaceful, or perhaps he had had enough of holding organics for one day, but he couldn't understand his own actions. Why didn't he just pick her up? It wasn't like he cared about how she felt or anything, right?

 _Why am I hesitating? What's wrong with me?_

Shaking his helm, he very carefully scooped Kelsey's sleeping form into his servo and gently pulled her out. He cradled her in his arms as his chest cavity closed. Kelsey didn't awaken from all of the movement much to his surprise, instead she turned over onto her side so that she was facing Knockout's chassis. Knockout could feel his cooling fans overworking as he watched Kelsey snuggle into his arms. He had no idea why he was feeling like this, considering he found humans to be utterly repulsive in every single way. But there was something different about Kelsey. She wasn't like the other humans that he had met, in fact, he found her rather entertaining and nice to have around. He had even been shocked that she had offered to buff his finish earlier that day. Despite this, however, he still found her fleshy-ness to be rather disgusting as most Cybertronians did with humans in general. There wasn't much he could change about that. He was even surprised with himself that he was allowing her to sleep in the crook of his arm against his chassis with her skin brushing against his metal plating. Glancing around his berth room, he looked for a place where Kelsey could rest. Despite how large the berth room was in comparison to the small human, there wasn't really a suitable place for her to sleep. He knew that letting her sleep on his own berth was completely out of the question, he would most likely squash her in his recharge state and the last thing he wanted was to scrape a flattened human off his finish.

Eventually his optics rested on the berth where Breakdown used to recharge on and he felt his spark pang at the memory of his former partner. Knockout wanted more than anything to bring Breakdown back somehow, but he knew that was impossible. Breakdown had been slaughtered at the vile servos of the treacherous former Decepticon, Airachnid, a femme that he wouldn't hesitate to slice or blast open the next chance he saw her. Not only that, but Breakdown had been butchered by the hands of MECH to top it all off. Bringing his thoughts back to the present moment, his optics gazed down at the resting human cradled in his arms and then back to Breakdown's berth. He didn't exactly like the idea of an organic resting in Breakdown's berth when his feelings for Breakdown still clung to his processor, the emotions were still very raw. Scanning the rest of his room, he finally decided that Kelsey could rest on a bench that hung directly above his own berth so that way he would be able to keep an optic on her in case she planned on escaping. Knockout softly deposited Kelsey onto the bench and watched as she turned over in her sleep at the movement. This didn't appear to be enough to wake her up, however, as she continued to sleep blissfully. Knockout decided to take this as a good opportunity to recharge, as it was getting rather late, and as much as he enjoyed night time racing he felt like he needed a good recharge after what had happened today. Not only had he had a run in with the Autobots, but now both Starscream and Megatron were highly suspicious of him. He would have to hide Kelsey better from now on – the only safe place for her seemed to be inside his chest cavity, as much as Knockout hated it, it was the only place where Starscream wouldn't go poking around. His thoughts were suddenly disturbed when he heard Kelsey's teeth chattering from up on her bench. He quickly sat up and his optics scanned over her small frame. She was shivering, quite violently, and he remembered that humans weren't quite as resistant to the cold as Cybertronians were. Grumbling under his breath about how fragile humans were, his optics rested on the backpack that Kelsey had brought back with her. For some reason, Knockout decided to open it, very carefully so that his giant clawed fingers wouldn't cut the fabric of the bag, and he rustled around inside until he discovered a human sized woven cloth made out of soft fabric.

 _What do humans call these things again? Quilts? Wait, no, that's something else…I think they're called blankets. Humans need them for warmth and comfort._

Knockout draped the plush blanket over Kelsey's trembling body and gradually her shivering subsided. He also managed to find a pillow inside her backpack and propped it underneath her head. Once he was satisfied that Kelsey was fine, he shifted into a comfortable lying down position on his berth to begin his recharge state. Closing his optics, he slowly began to feel his body drift into recharge.


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hello everyone! I apologize for the long wait. I really tried to make this chapter longer, hence why it has taken me longer to write it. Please tell me your thoughts once you've finished reading, it really makes my day when I read what you guys have to say about my writing. Anyways, I hope you guys all enjoy this chapter. :)**

* * *

Kelsey awoke the following morning, slowly blinking her heavy eyelids as her eyes adjusted to the artificial lighting in Knockout's berth room. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, she let out a yawn before diving back under her plush blanket.

 _Blanket?_

She paused for a brief moment, confused that her blanket and pillow had been laid out perfectly for her on the bench. She recalled no recollection of taking out her blanket from yesterday, in fact, the last thing she remembered was falling asleep inside Knockout's compartment in his chest…

 _So, that must mean Knockout pulled these out for me…this must be his berth room,_ she thought silently, her gaze drifting over to the slumbering red giant that was resting below from where she sat. There was no one else who could've draped her blanket over her or got out her pillow, so why would Knockout do that for her? Did he really care about her well-being? Shaking her head, she decided not to dwell too much on it, and snuggled back under the warm blanket. What Knockout had in store for her today she had no idea, so far, he had treated her somewhat decently – he had placed her broken arm in a cast and tended to her injuries, and he hadn't squashed her under his foot yet so that was a plus. She still had no idea why he had rescued her from Vince, and that thought troubled her greatly. Why would a Decepticon consider helping a human like her? Knockout had mentioned that his leader, Megatron, intended on taking over Earth and ruling it under his iron fist. Surely that meant that all other humans on Earth, including herself, would most likely be slaughtered or end up being slaves for the Decepticons? So why was Knockout treating her like this?

 _No…Knockout sees me as nothing more than a pet, he couldn't possibly care for me…could he?_

Kelsey pushed those burning thoughts out of her brain, burying herself deeper into the soft blanket. Closing her eyes, she tried to rest her body up some more. The past few days had really taken a toll on her body, physically and mentally wise. Before she could properly fall into a blissful slumber, however, she felt a sharp digit prodding her side rather harshly.

"Wakie wakie flesh bag," Knockout's voice rumbled all around her. "It's time to get up now, unless you want to be cut in half."

Kelsey groaned, hiding her face under the blanket as Knockout continued to poke her with one of his claws. She was still half asleep, and her brain didn't quite make out what Knockout had just said to her.

A growl escaped Knockout's lips and he suddenly scooped Kelsey into his servos, her body still wrapped in the blanket like a burrito. Being picked up didn't really seem to affect her that much, her eyes still refused to open and her body gently leaned against one of Knockout's fingers.

"Get up!" roared Knockout, his face formed into a scowl. "Or do you really wish for me to cut you up? Perhaps into little bite sized pieces?"

"Five more minutes," Kelsey grumbled rather sluggishly, her hand now tightly grasped onto Knockout's finger as she shifted under the blanket.

Scowling, Knockout yanked the blanket out of Kelsey's arms and roughly threw it onto the bench that she had slept on. Kelsey let out a groan of protest, shielding her eyes with her hands as Knockout glared down at her.

"It's too early for this," she mumbled, hugging onto Knockout's finger.

Knockout, horrified that a human was grasping onto his finger so profoundly, flinched back in disgust as he felt her grimy fleshy hands caress over his digit. Knockout knew that humans produced various oils that excreted from their skin, which he could now feel on his servo and finger.

"Ugh, would you stop that!" the red mech hissed, plucking the groggy human girl off the palm of his servo so that she was now being held by her shirt in between Knockout's thumb and index finger.

"You fleshies truly are revolting…producing oily fluids from your skin…disgusting!" Knockout shuddered.

Kelsey blinked, finally opening her eyes properly as she gazed at the giant robot that was holding her up by her shirt. "Uh, y'know, if I had a shower I wouldn't be so oily. And some breakfast would be nice too."

Knockout rolled his optics. "Yes, of course…hmm…" he stared around his berth room, not entirely sure what to do.

"Can't you just let me go back home like yesterday and take a shower there?" she piped up quietly.

Knockout's gaze returned to her small frame and he frowned at her. "Absolutely not! I can't further risk you exposing my kind's existence to your fleshy relatives. And I told you that you're never going back there."

Kelsey let out a sigh. "Well, that's a real shame then because I'm going to stink like no tomorrow if I don't get a shower asap."

"I didn't say you weren't going to have a shower at all!" said Knockout. "Just not at your home."

"Then where am I going to have a shower? It's not like you have human sized showers on the Nemesis, do you?"

"Uh…not exactly," said Knockout. "I could configure one of the oil baths to expel water instead of oil, but, of course, it won't be human sized."

"I don't care, just so long as I can get clean," replied Kelsey. "Would you mind putting me down now?"

Knockout grumbled under his breath, but regardless to this, the red mech placed Kelsey rather roughly on the metal floor beside his foot. She now had to crane her neck up if she wanted to look at him, his tall body looming over her, enveloping her in a dark shadow. It was at that moment that she really drank in Knockout's features, her gaze sweeping over his large frame.

 _For a giant alien robot, he's actually pretty attractive,_ she said silently inside her mind, and then nearly recoiled back in shock at her obscure thought. _What the heck am I thinking!? He captured me, abducted me against my own will, and now I'll never see my family ever again! How could I possibly find him attractive, adding to the fact that he's a giant alien robot, after all that?!_

But she could feel her face begin to burn as Knockout stared down at her, obviously confused at her face that now resembled his red paintjob. Her heart was pounding against her chest like a drum and she hastily pushed her hair out of her face.

 _But…he did rescue me…and help me…ugh, why am I thinking about all of this?_

Her thoughts were soon dispersed as Knockout stomped over to a control panel on the opposite side of the room, the ground shaking at each step that he took causing Kelsey to jump slightly at the large tremors. She gazed up to see what the Decepticon was doing, and saw that he was tapping in figures onto a Cybertronian keyboard as a red screen lit up in front of him. The words that appeared on the screen were completely foreign to her.

"What are you doing?" she asked softly, slowly edging towards where Knockout stood.

"Checking to see if anyone is using the oil bath," he replied, punching in some more code into the screen. "Ah, of course. Starscream has it all to himself. Typical."

"Starscream's using it right now?"

"Unfortunately, yes. We'll just have to wait until he's finished."

"How long will that be?"

"I don't know, it ranges depending on what type of mood he's in. Screamer does like to have a long soak sometimes."

Kelsey let out a frustrated sigh. "But he could be in there for hours! Can't you just kick him out and tell him to beat it?"

Knockout stared at her as if she had spoken a swear word. "I can't just walk in while he's taking an oil bath! That would be an invasion of privacy!"

"But it's not like you guys wear clothes," she retorted. Before she could add more, she paused for a few seconds. "Do you wear clothes?"

"We most certainly do not wear clothes!" Knockout snapped, horrified at her statement. "Unlike you fleshies who rely solely on fabric to cover your fragile skin, we have armoured plating."

"So…does that plating come off when you're taking a bath or something?" she questioned.

"No!" exclaimed Knockout, still horrified. "Our armour is part of us, think of it as like your gross human skin. You can't just take it off, it's physically attached."

"Then why would it be awkward for you to kick ol' Screamy out the bath tub?" she said.

"Because it would be rude!" he snapped. "And, unlike Starscream, I have standards. You don't just barge in while somebody is taking an oil bath, it just isn't polite."

Kelsey rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine, whatever. I thought you didn't like Starscream though?"

"Believe me, I _despise him_ ," answered Knockout. "But _I'm not rude_ , unlike _he_ is."

Kelsey decided that there was no point in continuing to argue with Knockout and heaved out a sigh.

 _I guess I'll just have to wait a bit,_ she thought silently, her gaze drifting over to a rather large berth that was somewhat similar to Knockout's own berth. She wondered why Knockout would need two berths when he already had one, unless he shared his room with someone else. She glanced over to where Knockout was standing, his frame towering above her, as he punched in some codes into the control panel. Surely if Knockout had a roommate, he would've warned her about it? Or at least told her to be careful? But then, why would he keep her in a place where she could be discovered by another giant robot? Shaking her head, she decided to ask Knockout about it.

"Hey, uh, Knockout," she said rather quietly, walking over towards where Knockout stood and tapped her knuckles on his foot.

Knockout's red optics glared down at her. "What is it, human?"

"Is there, by any chance, another giant robot that shares this room with you?" she asked, gesturing to the large berth on the other side of the room.

Knockout froze, fatigue washed over his face, and suddenly there was a grey aura that shrouded over him like a dark cloud. He let out a sigh, his optics resting on the berth on the other side of the room.

"K-Knockout…?" she said softly, suddenly regretting asking the question.

"That berth belonged to my partner, Breakdown," answered Knockout, his voice heavy.

"We used to share this room together."

"What…what happened to him?" she asked.

Knockout turned away from Kelsey, his optics now focused on the screen in front of him again. She could no longer see Knockout's face. There was a pregnant pause, and then Knockout spoke up.

"He was killed."

Now it was Kelsey's turn to be silent. She wasn't entirely sure what to say at that moment, as her brain processed what he had just told her.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered gently, after a brief pause.

Knockout was completely silent as he tapped in some more code into the control panel, almost as if he hadn't heard her reply at all.

 _Knockout used to have someone that he greatly cared about…his kind is capable of emotions…I had no idea…_

Very cautiously, as she knew that if she so much as angered Knockout she would most likely become a human pancake, she placed the palm of her hand on his foot comfortingly. She felt Knockout stiffen at her sudden touch, but he didn't attempt to kick her or squash her with his foot. He remained rigid, the dark cloud growing ever bigger over his frame.

"I have no idea what it's like to lose someone close to you," she said. "I wish I had the right words…I'm sorry."

Knockout turned down to look at her, the grey aura that shrouded him started to ebb away a little as he gazed at her.

"Why…why are you doing that?" he asked.

"Doing what?" she questioned him.

"Being nice to me," he said. "After everything that I've done to you…I don't understand…"

"I know, but, to be quite honest, despite everything that you've done, you did save me from Vince," she said. "And this is the very least I can do to help. I can't possibly imagine what you're going through."

Knockout opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out. He looked like he was at a loss for words. And then, after a few more seconds of silence, he spoke up again.

"Thank you, Kelsey."

Kelsey's eyes widened at hearing Knockout's words. She almost couldn't believe her ears.

 _Did he just thank me AND say my name?!_

"W-what?" she spluttered, still not believing what she had heard.

"Ah, looks like Screamer is finally done with his oil bath," said Knockout, changing the subject. "You still want this bath, don't you, human?"

"Uh, yes, of course!" she stuttered, still in shock from what he had said earlier.

"Grab your things then. We're going to the oil bath." He plucked Kelsey off the ground with ease, depositing her on the bench where she had slept the night before. Without a second to spare, Kelsey fished around in her backpack to grab a spare change of clothes and some body wash and shampoo. She also grabbed a plastic bag so that her cast wouldn't get wet while she was in the bath. When she had everything ready, Knockout scooped her up again and placed her inside his chest cavity while suppressing a shudder. Once again Kelsey was faced with the familiar surroundings of Knockout's chest cavity, and after being inside it a few times now, she had become rather accustomed to it. It was surprisingly comfy and warm, and it smelt nice too. Her brain, however, couldn't stop thinking about what Knockout had just said to her a few seconds ago, did Knockout really mean what he said? Had he truly thanked her, or had she imagined the entire thing? Not only that, but if she hadn't imagined the whole scenario, then he did in fact know her name after all. All of a sudden, she heard a very familiar voice that made her blood run cold.

"Ah, are you wanting to take an oil bath Knockout?"

 _Starscream._

"Yes, and about time you came out too, I thought you were going to be in there forever."

"As a superior officer, I can take as much time as I like!"

"Whatever, Screamer. Now would you move out of the way? I'd like to take my oil bath in privacy, please."

She felt her heart rate slow down a bit as she heard Starscream's loud footsteps fade away, her entire body shaking. The last time she had been in Starscream's presence, he had nearly snatched her up like a tiny doll. He had been so close to discovering her, and, even though she was safe inside Knockout's chassis, she didn't quite feel at ease. She knew for a fact that Starscream was highly suspicious, and he would more than likely discover her for real at some point unless they were extremely careful. For now, however, she was safe from Starscream. Artificial light suddenly shined down on her, and she was greeted by a giant clawed servo that pulled her out of the compartment in Knockout's chassis. Knockout placed her onto the ground, and walked over towards another control panel on the opposite side of the room. Kelsey stared at the giant pool before her, it was enormous! It was as large as a swimming pool, in fact, it was probably the largest swimming pool she had ever laid her eyes on. The only thing was instead of it being filled with water, it was full of thick, oozy, black oil. Her gaze flickered over to where Knockout was standing, hunched over a control panel as he typed away.

"So, uh, this oil is going to be replaced with warm water?" she asked.

"Correct," replied Knockout. "We usually only fill the oil bath with water when it needs a good clean, which is why we have this water feature installed in the first place. But, seeing as Screamer was the last one to use it, it definitely needs a good clean after that."

"How long will that take?" she questioned the red mech.

"Not very long," he replied.

As if on cue, the oil inside the pool started to drain like a giant bath tub. She watched as the oil gurgled and swirled around as it was being sucked away by the drain. It didn't take long until the tub was drained completely of all oil, save for a few traces of it splattered against the walls of the tub. Water soon started to fill the enormous tub, washing away all the remains of the oil that was left behind. Once all the traces of oil had been cleaned off, the oily water gurgled down the drain and the bath was empty again – it was completely spotless, there was no indication that there had been any oil in there at all now. The bath then began to fill up again, this time with crystal clear steamy water. Soap suds started to bubble up inside the bath as she watched the clean water roll in.

"Just how big is this bath?" she asked Knockout.

"Oh, it's about 14 feet deep near the front, the deepest end is about 30 feet at the back. It would probably be best for you to stay near the front of the bath." Knockout said.

"The shallowest is 14 feet!?" she exclaimed. "I'd have to practically tread water the whole time!"

"Well, what did you expect?" scoffed Knockout. "We're giants compared to you, it's not like we're going to have tiny human sized baths."

"Good point," she said.

Once the bath was full, Kelsey placed her bathroom items on the floor and glanced over at Knockout. The red mech was just standing there, observing her.

"Aren't you going to leave?" she said, narrowing her eyes at him.

"I would love to leave you here right now, fleshy," answered Knockout. "But unfortunately, I can't – if I leave then anyone will just assume that I've finished and waltz right in."

"B-But you can't stay here!" she exclaimed. "I'm going to be completely naked!"

"Yes, yes, I know that," grumbled Knockout. "But I do not find your disgusting organic bodies attractive in the slightest, so you won't catch me looking at you at all."

"What about my privacy?" she shot back. "I thought you were all about being polite."

"Look, human," growled Knockout, stomping over to where she stood which made her flinch back at his large mass looming towards her. "I do not want to be here while you bathe. Believe me, I would much rather be buffing my finish right now then stay here with you. But if I leave then you'll be vulnerable and no doubt somebody else will walk right in while you're in the middle of bathing."

"Can't your ship's sensors pick my heat signature up or something? Surely they can detect my presence on the ship?" she asked.

"The Nemesis rarely scans for organic life," said Knockout. "If they bothered to you would've been found out long ago. You're safe for the time being. But, don't you see, if I leave, then it will look like that there's nobody in here at all then anyone can come in."

Kelsey heaved out a sigh of defeat. She hated the whole idea of having Knockout in the same room as her while she was taking a bath, as if she didn't feel fragile enough around him. But what choice did she have? Knockout had a pretty solid point. What if Starscream decided to come back for a second bath while she was in here? Or, even worse, Megatron decided he wanted a bath?

"Okay, okay, fine," she huffed. "But you have to promise not to look!"

"I wouldn't dream of it," he grumbled.

"Promise!"

"Ugh, fine. I'll promise not to look. Happy?"

"Turn around!"

"What? Really-?"

"Please!"

Knockout rolled his optics and turned his back to Kelsey. He then walked to the other side of the room and stared intently at the wall.

"Is this okay, human?"

"Yes, thank you. Please stay like that."

Once Kelsey was positive that Knockout wasn't going to turn around, she began to carefully peel her clothing off her small frame. Taking her clothes off was a lot more difficult with her arm in a plaster cast, but somehow, she managed to do it. Kelsey had done it once before anyways when Knockout had taken her back to her home a few days ago. Once she had completely stripped down she placed her broken arm in the plastic bag so that her cast wouldn't get wet. She cautiously moved towards the pool, dipping her toe in to test the temperature. She was pleasantly surprised to find that the water was very warm, and she slowly lowered herself into the pool. Her eyes quickly darted back to Knockout's frame for a brief moment, just to make sure he wasn't looking, and she felt relieved when she saw that he still had his back faced to her. With that in mind, she began to float about in the colossal bath as giant soap suds drifted past her. The soapy water spread across her skin, warming up her body as she swam around, she submerged her head so that her hair would get wet.

 _This doesn't really feel like I'm taking a bath at all,_ she washed some of the soap suds over her arms, _it feels more like I'm swimming lengths round an enormous pool…which is basically what I really am doing._

Reaching out onto the ledge, she grabbed her shampoo bottle and dropped a blob of shampoo onto her hand and began to massage it into her wet scalp. After she had thoroughly washed her hair, she scrubbed her skin with some body wash that she had taken with her next to the shampoo and conditioner bottles. As she was washing her skin, her brain thought back to earlier that day when Knockout had told her about his partner Breakdown. Despite the fact that she despised the giant robot, she did feel sorry for him. Losing someone close to you isn't an easy thing to process. Why had Knockout revealed such personal information to her? She was just a mere human, a pet, in his eyes after all. She was incredibly confused as to why he would do that. Just what exactly was she to him? Surely, he couldn't hate her that much if he felt like he could share such private information? Adding to the fact that he had saved her, fixed her injuries and whatnot, Kelsey had no idea what to think of him anymore.

"Are you almost done?" Knockout's voice rang out through the giant room, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"No!" Kelsey cried.

"Will you hurry up then? I'm getting immensely bored just staring at this wall."

"I'm almost finished."

"Ugh."

After a few more minutes, Kelsey decided that she had had enough of the titan sized bath and gracefully hopped out. She glanced around for her towel as she removed the plastic bag from around her cast. Her towel appeared to be nowhere in sight. Frantically she rummaged about through her clothes, hoping by some chance that her towel had been buried underneath the clothing, but there was no sign of her towel.

 _Oh, great. This is just flipping fantastic._


	9. Chapter 9

Knockout was starting to lose his patience as he waited for Kelsey to finish taking her bath. Just how long exactly did it take for humans to cleanse themselves? He tapped his foot against the metal floor loudly, his patience ever thinning by the second. It was strange, considering the fact that Kelsey was supposed to be his pet after all, that he was taking orders from the human girl. Didn't she realize that he could easily end her life right now if he pleased? He would have to remind her of where her place was after she was finished.

"Crap!" Kelsey hissed.

Knockout nearly turned around at hearing her voice, but he stopped himself. No matter the fact that Kelsey was human, he did respect other people's privacy even if they happened to be organic.

"What's wrong?" asked Knockout.

"Uh…I've got a slight problem. Well, it's a bit of a big problem actually."

"Spit it out."

"I forgot my towel."

"Towel?"

"Yeah, my towel! A cloth of fabric designed to dry yourself once you've finished having a bath or shower. It's really, really important."

"Ugh, great. What do you want me to do about it then, human?"

"Well…I'm pretty sure my towel isn't in here. I must've left it back in your berth room. Do you think you could quickly run back and get it?"

"And why should I take orders from a human? You are my pet, remember that!"

"I know, I know, but if I don't have a towel I won't have anything to dry myself with…I could be stuck like this."

"What do you mean?"

"I could be…y'know…stuck naked."

"Alright, alright, I'll go get your towel. Let's pray to Primus that nobody decides to take an oil bath while I'm gone." Knockout began to move away from the wall, and Kelsey let out a screech at his movement.

"What is it now, human!?" Knockout growled.

"Don't move! I'm not covered!" she cried.

"Then find something to cover yourself with!" Knockout snapped.

After a few seconds, Knockout heard a small 'splash' coming from the bath.

"Alright, you can look now."

Knockout slowly turned around and saw that Kelsey had returned to the bath and had submerged herself under the water, except for her head and broken arm, which was bobbing up and down as she treaded the water. She had also collected as many soap bubbles as she could to surround herself in which helped to cover up her body.

"W-what if somebody comes in while I'm in here?" she croaked.

"Then you're going to have to hide and pray that nobody finds you," said Knockout. "I'll be as quick as I can."

"B-But what if somebody finds me? What should I do?" she said, panic flaring in her chest.

"I'm sure you'll be quick witted enough to wriggle yourself out of it," said Knockout, and, without another word, he vanished through the metal doors. As soon as the doors closed a shiver passed down Kelsey's spine. She was alone, unprotected, vulnerable, and she was completely naked. What little remained of her dignity was soon slipping away. She wanted to punch herself for forgetting her towel and getting herself into this whole situation.

 _How could I possibly forget my towel?_ She thought, grinding her teeth in frustration. _Wait, does Knockout even know what a towel looks like? What if he grabs the wrong thing?_

She facepalmed herself with her good hand. Why hadn't she thought of that before he had left? Now if Knockout returned with something completely different, he would have to leave again, once again leaving her vulnerable and alone.

 _I guess there isn't a lot I can do about it now…except wait and hope for the best._

She swallowed hard and tried to relax herself. Everything would be fine. Knockout would find her towel, give it to her, and it would all be okay. Steadying her breathing, she swam to the shallowest end on the pool and found a small ledge for her to sit on that was only partially submerged in soapy water. Finding relaxation in a place where there were giant, human killing robots that could walk in at any time was almost near impossible for Kelsey. A few moments of silence passed, the only thing keeping her company was her own thoughts as she gazed around the giant room.

 _Okay, maybe I will be fine…nobody has come inside so far…I hope it stays like this._

Just as Kelsey was beginning to relax a little, the doors to room suddenly swished open sending a cold draft of air through the room. Kelsey's heart nearly caught in her throat as she felt large, rattling tremors shake the metal floor. Sucking in some air, she immediately ducked down into the water and tried to surround herself with as many bubbles as she possibly could. She had no idea who this new robot was, however, something was telling her it wasn't Knockout. The robot hadn't breathed a word since they had entered the room which only set Kelsey on edge. She had a strong feeling that whoever this bot was, it wasn't Starscream either. Through the soapy water and bubbles, she could just make out a large, dark, purple humanoid form staring right at her – or at least if it had eyes it would be staring. Kelsey screamed underwater, letting out a stream of bubbles through her lips. Could this new Decepticon even see her through the soap suds? She literally had no idea if she had really been spotted or not. Her lungs began to ache for oxygen, screaming at her to return to the surface, but she knew if she did there was no doubt that the giant robot would see her and most likely kill her right on the spot. Her face began to turn the same shade of purple as the silent Decepticon and she suddenly stiffened when she saw a long, snake-like, robotic tendril ease its way towards where she was underneath the water. She quickly dove even deeper into the water, not caring if her cast got wet or not, and frantically kicked her legs to get as far away from the tentacle as possible. She kept on swimming despite her strength waning as her lungs begged for the taste of oxygen. The tentacle was moving faster than Kelsey could swim and she let out another scream of bubbles as she felt the horrid thing grasp onto her foot. She thrashed about, trying to pull it off, but it was no use. The tentacle's grasp on her foot was far too strong. She felt it begin to drag her back towards the surface and she began to pound the tentacle with her fist in a desperate attempt to release its iron grip from her foot, but it was no use. She was doomed.

* * *

Knockout frantically ran back to his berth-room, growling under his breath, not caring if he bumped into a few Vehicon drones along the way. If someone walked in while Kelsey was bathing, there was no doubt that Megatron would put him through a great deal of pain and humiliation for bringing a human on board the Nemesis. Once he had reached his berth-room he instantly rushed to Kelsey's backpack and started to pull everything out, not caring if he made a mess of Kelsey's belongings. Finally, he found what appeared to be a human sized cloth which fit the description that Kelsey had given him. If this wasn't a towel, then it would just have to make do. There was no way he could afford to go back for a second trip. With that in mind, Knockout sprinted back to the oil bath room just in time to see Soundwave standing ominously beside the oil bath.

"S-Soundwave!" Knockout spluttered, quickly hiding the towel behind his back.

The silent Decepticon slowly turned his head to face the medic, not uttering a single word.

"Oh, Soundwave, I'm actually using the oil bath right now," he babbled. "I just popped out to grab some wax for my finish."

Soundwave simply pointed at the bath with his strange, long fingers.

 _Oh scrap!_

Knockout's Energon ran cold as he stared at Soundwave then back at the bubbly bath. He saw that one of Soundwave's tentacles was submerged in the bath. He swallowed hard. There was no doubt in his mind that Soundwave had discovered Kelsey.

"Please, Soundwave, this isn't what it looks like," said Knockout, slowly moving closer towards him. "Just let me explain."

All of a sudden Soundwave's tentacle retracted further back and Kelsey broke through the surface of the soapy water. She sucked in fresh air into her lungs, panting heavily, and she let out a scream as her eyes fell on Soundwave's frame.

"Scrap," Knockout hissed.

Soundwave turned to Knockout and pointed at Kelsey, her body still submerged under the water, only her head bobbing above the surface.

"O-Oh, you're wondering about the human," mumbled Knockout, rubbing the back of his neck rather awkwardly. "She's, uh, my pet human. The Autobots have pets, so, why can't we?"

Soundwave only stared silently at the red medic. The silence itself was almost deafening to Knockout.

"No, I haven't told Lord Megatron about her yet," answered Knockout. "But I promise she won't cause any trouble. Soundwave, I beg of you, please tell no one about her. Especially Starscream and our master. I'll do anything but just, please, don't tell anyone. I beg of you."

Soundwave, of course, didn't say anything. After what felt like several long hours of loud silence, the purple con released his grip on Kelsey's foot and retracted his tentacle back to his frame. Kelsey nearly passed out from relief.

"Thank you so much Soundwave," said Knockout, letting out a sigh of relief. "I owe you a great debt. If there's anything you want me to do, I'll do it."

Once again Soundwave said nothing, but the silent con gave one last look at Kelsey and Knockout before exiting through the large metal doors. Once the doors were closed Knockout had to sit down on the floor to recover from the whole ordeal.

"HOLY FLYING FRICK!" Kelsey exclaimed from the bath. "I saw my whole life flashing through my eyes! _And it was boring_!"

"Oh Primus, let's hope that Soundwave doesn't tell anyone about this," breathed Knockout, holding his helm in a clawed servo. "He knows about you now. There's no going back. Oh scrap, what if he does tell Lord Megatron anyway? My finish is going to be ruined, not to mention my job!"

"So that creepy con's name was Soundwave?" asked Kelsey, swimming closer to the ledge of the bath. "I honestly thought he was going to kill me."

"I thought he was going to as well," replied Knockout, shaking his helm. "I don't know what came over him, but he decided to spare you for whatever reason. It seems too good to be true."

"Can I have my towel please?" Kelsey piped up, her good hand making a grabby motion.

Knockout tossed her towel over towards the edge of the bath.

"Is that what you wanted, human?"

"Yes, now, if you don't mind, I need to get changed so if you could turn around again that'd be great."

Knockout turned his back towards Kelsey and once again stared at the wall. His claws tapped against the metallic floor as hundreds of thoughts burned inside his mind. What was he supposed to do now? He had no idea if Soundwave was going to keep silent or not, or, perhaps he might keep silent about the whole matter. Soundwave was good at keeping quiet about things. But then again, his undying loyalty to Megatron was immensely strong and easily outweighed whatever Soundwave felt towards Knockout. If he even felt anything at all. More than anything, Knockout wanted to speak to his former partner, Breakdown, about the whole matter. Breakdown would know what to do. He could talk to Breakdown about almost anything. They shared everything with each other to the point where they were even comfortable to share berth rooms which is something that Knockout would not even consider with any other Cybertronian. But Breakdown was different. Breakdown had been his medical partner for quite some time and they had grown quite close together. Now his partner was gone for good. Nothing could bring him back now.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Kelsey's voice interrupted his thoughts and he nearly jumped at seeing the organic so close to his frame. She was fully dressed in a hoodie and some jeans with some sneakers.

"You want fuel, right?" said Knockout, gesturing to her stomach.

"Uh, yeah, I could really go for some breakfast right now." She folded her arms over her chest.

"Let's go for a drive then." Knockout transformed into his alt mode and opened his passenger door for Kelsey to climb in. Kelsey didn't hesitate hopping into his passenger seat and buckled herself in as a ground bridge portal opened up before them. Tires screeching against metal, Knockout sped off through the glowing green portal. If Soundwave was opening a ground bridge for him, perhaps he was going to keep Knockout's secret after all.


End file.
